Arsenal legend Ian Wright says English football must follow the Bundesliga's example if the national team is ever to compete at the elite level again.
In his column for the The Sun, Wright wrote: "The lack of English players is not all down to managers. Chairmen and owners must carry some of the responsibility too.
"Managers are given little time to nurture home-grown talent. At many clubs, youth policies are not high on the list of priorities. And maybe you can understand why.
"I mean if Arsenal are not providing one player for Capello's 23, and often no Englishmen at all in their Premier League matches, why should other clubs bother?
"Competing in the Champions League is all that matters to top clubs. That is why they prefer expensive foreigners to cultivating local young stars.
"And the ironic thing is that, despite this, the Germans - or rather Bayern Munich - still did better than Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in last season's competition.
"Germany taught us a lesson on the pitch but we also need to learn from them off it. It was not so long ago the Bundesliga was reportedly dying on its backside, unable to pay the high wages and attract big names.
"So the German clubs decided to invest in their youth systems rather than importing. The German national team is clearly thriving thanks to the wealth of talent the country's top division is producing. You can't say the same about us.
"Any English player who plays well for a few games or scores a few goals is now touted for an England cap that used to be so hard to win."
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